Work Text:
Olivia cradled her head in her hands as she sat on the uncomfortable chair in the precinct. The police officer who had found her wandering the streets and brought her here was on the phone in another room, no doubt calling her mother.
Olivia knew that running away from home had been a risky move. But in the confidence she had as a 13 year old, Olivia had figured it was unlikely she’d be found that quickly, and certainly not before her mother woke out of the drunken stupor she’d put herself in.
How wrong she’d been.
She could hear the steps of another person walking in.
“Hey Joe,” a voice called out, “We’ve got another one.”
Olivia looked up to see a girl, probably a couple years younger than herself with the police officer who’d just walked in. He indicated for the girl to sit while he walked over to the office where the other officer was.
The girl sat down beside Olivia. She had some of the curliest hair Olivia had ever seen. She was staring forward, her eyes red rimmed from crying but still with a determined look on her face.
Olivia had never really fit in with most kids. She’d grown up too quickly given her mother’s penchant for drinking a little too much. And now that she knew where she had come from, an angry confession her mother had spit out earlier in the evening, it all made sense. Still, Olivia could see a bit of that same feeling in this girl beside her.
“Hey,” she greeted her softly, “You run away from home too?”
The girl turned with a swish of curls.
“Foster home but yeah,” she answered, the word “foster” coming out with an angry hiss.
Olivia felt a pang of sympathy. She’d heard some horror stories about foster homes. Ones that made even her own home situation look tame.
“I’m Olivia,” she said, introducing herself.
“I’m Stella,” the girl replied.
For the next twenty minutes, the two girls talked. Olivia learned that Stella had spent most of her life at St. Basil’s Orphanage, but had been placed in this foster home as a trial.
“The orphanage sucked,” Stella had quipped, “But at least the nuns didn’t creep me out.”
Olivia in turn had shared a bit of her home life. She didn’t mention the bomb Serena had dropped earlier however. It was too fresh in her mind and too painful.
“Alright you two.”
The girls looked up to see the two officers had returned.
“Stella, you’re going back with Officer Hanson,” the one officer explained, “And Olivia, you’re coming with me.”
The girls got up from the uncomfortable chairs and Stella pulled Olivia into a hug. Olivia was shocked for a moment but then put her arms around her newfound friend.
“Thanks for making me feel a little less alone,” Stella told her.
“Right back at you,” Olivia responded.
The two parted and followed the officers outside where they were taken back to their respective homes.
Years later, whenever she encountered foster children in some precarious homes while working at SVU, that conversation with Stella rang through Olivia’s mind. She had times where she wanted to use work resources to see if she could find out if Stella had ever made it out of that home, but the lack of information outside of her first name always held Olivia back.
It turned out that work would bring them together after all. Olivia arrived to a joint scene one day and she caught glimpse of a woman taking photos with an unruly set of curls and that same determined look in her eyes.
“Stella?”
The curly haired woman turned and her eyes widened.
“Olivia?”
The two women hugged fiercely. Meanwhile, both their partners looked on in confusion but with a fondness in their eyes.